The early tests have been a success, and Riot Games confirmed today that “one of VALORANT’s most popular modes” is staying in the game long-term after an extensive but successful test period.
In an announcement posted to the official VALORANT channel, gameplay product manager Coleman Palm told players that Swiftplay successfully completed its trial period, and will now be a full-time permanent game mode when Patch 6.03 launches.
“Starting with Patch 6.03, we’re going to be officially ending the Swiftplay beta period,” Palm said. “Because from here on out, we’re actually just going to keep it on.”
Palm clarified though that just because Riot was “removing the beta tag” from the Swiftplay mode, it doesn’t mean that the mode will never see any changes. Palm promised that the VALORANT team would “continue to look for opportunities to improve the mode,” and confirmed that more details will be released in the Patch 6.03 notes.
Swiftplay first appeared in beta with the launch of Patch 5.12 back in early December 2022, alongside the massive, meta-altering changes to over half the agents in the game, including the impactful Chamber nerfs. Swiftplay was offered as a condensed version of unrated, with players playing a best-of-nine.
In Swiftplay, players start each half with two ultimate points already, and both teams get a fixed amount of credits to start each of the four rounds per half, with the exception of the team winning the pistol round receiving a bonus 600 credits.
Swiftplay offers players a more timely experience compared to unrated or competitive, but without the predetermined weapons or random orb pickups of Spike Rush. The now full-time mode is also a great option for players just trying to grind their daily and weekly missions.
